Yun Ying was silent for a long while before forcing herself to speak calmly: "How… how do you know you have a sister? Didn't you lose your memory?"
"When I woke up, the apocalypse had already broken out. I was among the first batch of Ability Users to awaken their supernatural abilities. Only Old He was by my side at the time, and he said I had a sister."
Yu Yao looked at Yun Ying. He Fangchen had said that when they found Yu Yao, he was already burning with fever from the impending ability awakening.
"Old He said I was muttering about going to Huai City to find my sister. Later, I collapsed from the fever, and when I woke up again, I couldn't remember anything."
Yun Ying's throat felt dry. She struggled to stay composed and asked, "Huai… Huai City?"
"Huai City," Yu Yao said. "Before the apocalypse, it was called Linzhou City."
That was where the Yu family's old estate was located. Uncle Yu's funeral had been held there. Yun Ying had returned to attend the funeral—she'd gone to Linzhou City—but she hadn't seen Yu Yao at the ceremony.
Three days after the funeral ended, she finished handling all the aftermath and was preparing to leave when the apocalypse broke out.
"Later, Old He and I made a trip to Linzhou City. The city had already been overrun by zombies. The base outside the city—that's Huai City Base—we were just about to head there when the Zombie Tide hit. Huai City Base fell."
Yu Yao paused here and noticed Yun Ying's eyes had gone wide and round, as if she was frightened.
He softened his voice and said, "Don't worry. My sister probably isn't dead. There's someone… he has information. I'll find her. She's around your age—you two would probably get along well."
Yun Ying felt even more uneasy!
She and Yu Yao had missed each other by sheer misfortune. When the apocalypse broke out, Yun Ying had squeezed onto a bus leaving the city. The highway to Huai City Base had been overrun by a Zombie Horde, so they'd turned around and headed to another safe base instead. There, Yun Ying had met Song Huai and followed him into Jiangcheng Base.
Yun Ying stammered, "But you don't remember her face or her name. How will you find her?"
Yu Yao said, "Don't worry. I'll find her."
Yun Ying gave an awkward smile and said quietly, "That's great, then. I hope you find her. I'm feeling a bit sleepy—I'll go to sleep now."
She closed her eyes and turned over under the blanket, facing away from Yu Yao.
Yu Yao had probably genuinely lost his memory from the ability awakening. Yun Ying had heard of such cases happening, but those Ability Users had quickly regained their memories. Someone like Yu Yao, who still couldn't recall a single thing after more than half a year, was rare.
But there was a very real possibility he'd recover his memories eventually.
Great. He'd been burning with fever before collapsing, still muttering about going to find her—how much pent-up anger must that mean? Someone as petty as Yu Yao, once he remembered, wouldn't he kill her?
Yun Ying lay under the blanket, her mind full of everything she'd done.
And it wasn't just kicking Yu Yao, that was the simple part.
Yun Ying had flat-out refused to make their relationship public. Knowing that the way he'd become her boyfriend wasn't exactly honorable, Yu Yao had endured it all those years—she hadn't even given him a title.
But precisely because he knew of his own baseness and Yun Ying's reluctance, Yu Yao had watched her too closely. So by the last half-year before graduation, Yun Ying had almost never argued with him. Their relationship had become so harmonious that he'd gradually allowed her to travel far with her friends and stopped forcing himself to pick her up and drop her off every day.
Yun Ying quietly got in touch with Uncle Yu at the branch company and told him everything about the despicable things Yu Yao had done. Guilt toward her and fury at his son made Uncle Yu promise on the spot that whatever she wanted to do, he would cooperate with her.
The day before she left, Yun Ying even tacitly allowed herself to be intimate with Yu Yao. He held her tightly from behind, and just as she was about to fall asleep, he slipped a diamond ring onto her finger and kissed her bare, flushed shoulders and neck.
"Come meet my father with me, as my fiancée."
Yun Ying was too panicked then and did not dare look at him at all, so she brushed it off under the pretext of sleepiness: "I'm too sleepy. Let's talk about it in the daytime."
Then, during the day, while Yu Yao had been sent abroad by Uncle Yu to negotiate business, Yun Ying went back to school to get her diploma, withdrew the inheritance her parents had left her, left behind a sum of money as repayment for the Yu family raising her all these years, and then took all her identification documents and ran.
The moment Yu Yao could not reach her, he was already rushing back. At that time, flights were delayed because of thunderstorms, so he returned via transfers the whole way, only to be intercepted by Uncle Yu. That was why Yun Ying's escape went so smoothly.
Along with the money, she also left behind the wedding ring Yu Yao had put on her, a ring that had cost a fortune and taken two years to custom-make.
Now she had no idea where that ring, which could have bought a manor, had gone. It was the apocalypse—jewelry was not even worth as much as a bag of instant noodles.
Yu Yao's life creed was to indulge himself and make things hard for others. He had never suffered much since childhood. Having been played around in circles by her, Yun Ying did not think this bad-tempered person would hold back.
What was more, after their first time ended, the words Yu Yao said while holding her were something Yun Ying still did not dare forget.
—"I know what you're thinking. Give up that idea as soon as possible. I'll treat you very well. Once you graduate, we'll get married. For us there is no divorce, only widowhood. You'd better not make a mess of things and tire yourself out."
At first she thought Yu Yao was just running his mouth in the honeymoon phase of dating, until they had been together for more than two years and he still had not grown tired of her. Whatever she wanted, he gave her, and he even truly had the idea of taking her to get the marriage certificate.
Yu Yao had never been playing around with her from the very beginning.
Yun Ying pulled the blanket over herself, her mind a tangled mess, and forced herself to calm down. Yu Yao did not speak, so the room was very quiet. She had only slept three hours from last night until now, and before long she was half asleep and half awake.
The more she feared something, the more she dreamed of it.
She dreamed that Yu Yao had recovered his memory, tied Yun Ying up, and hung her, sobbing softly, on the city gate. Below were the dark, swarming masses of the Zombie Horde. He turned his head to look at her and curved his lips at her.
"Little sister, how dare you play me?"
Then Yun Ying was thrown by him into the Zombie Horde.
…
"Yun Ying, wake up."
Yun Ying suddenly woke with a start and saw the person blocking in front of her. The room light was not on, and the tall figure gave her a fright. She could not see his face clearly. He looked too much like a criminal, so she slapped him again.
The smack was far too loud. Yu Yao's head was knocked to the side by her blow. Yun Ying blinked, looked at his slightly turned face and messy bangs, and hurriedly sat up to cup his face.
"I'm sorry, I—I didn't mean to!"
The corners of Yu Yao's lips curved. He actually smiled.
He turned his head and took her hand, spread open her palm, and pinched it: "So strong. Does it hurt, baby?"
Yun Ying pulled her hand back at once. The bit of guilt in her heart vanished into thin air. She gritted her teeth and glared at him: "Are you crazy? In the middle of the night, you're really scary!"
Yu Yao didn't tease her further. He picked up the fleece jacket and unfolded it. "Put this on. We're leaving now."
Yun Ying frowned. "Now?"
"Yeah." The night was too cold. Yu Yao found a winter coat they'd scavenged today and helped her put it on, speaking as he did. "Something's off here. There are people in the village."
"People? Survivors?"
"Probably not." Yu Yao's voice was cold as he grabbed a hair tie and gathered her hair up.
Yun Ying murmured, "That makes sense. It's been so long since the apocalypse started—if there were still survivors who hadn't made it to a base, even finding supplies would be difficult. And the zombies are evolving too. They might be Ability Users. But why do we need to leave?"
She looked up at him, confusion clear in her eyes. That was just how Yun Ying was—she asked when she didn't understand. Yu Yao could guess that before the apocalypse, she'd been a model student at school. The obedient type.
He finished tying her hair and pulled a knit cap over her head. "One of them is a very powerful Ability User—a mutant-type ability. They were just trying to probe our situation. Whoever they are, they're not friendly."
Yun Ying had a general understanding of abilities. Beyond the five elemental basics—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—there was a type called mutant-type.
Similar to Lin Xizhi's space-type ability. She'd heard there were also abilities like invisibility, unlimited spatial traversal, and magnetic field manipulation.
Mutant-type abilities were mostly very powerful, but because their energy supply wasn't stable, every use consumed an enormous amount of the user's ability reserves, and the cooldown period was very long. Accidents were extremely easy to trigger.
Just like Lin Xizhi—after expanding her domain once, she needed a long time to recover, absorbing high-grade crystal cores to slowly restore herself.
To make a quick escape, they hadn't unloaded their supplies from the vehicle, so leaving was easy. Yu Yao took her hand and headed out.
"We don't know their situation. Let's leave first."
Yun Ying knew this was urgent and nodded. "Okay."
The RV was parked in the courtyard. Lu Yao and the others had already packed up quickly. Yu Yao helped Yun Ying into the vehicle. Dawn was just breaking, and the zombies hadn't fully entered their dormant period yet—not the best time for travel.
But staying here wasn't necessarily safe either. In the apocalypse, the thing more terrifying than zombies was people.
"Drive. We're leaving."
The RV rolled out through the gate and onto the narrow road, leaving the remote, deathly silent little village behind.
A beetle crawling on the ground was about to climb onto the tire when a ball of flame burned it to nothing. At the same time, in the deepest part of the village, inside a small courtyard—
The Ability User sitting in the yard looked up, helpless. "Found out again."
The burly man beside him, wearing only a tank top, rolled his eyes. "I told you those bugs of yours were useless. That Ability User's got eyes in the back of his head—he could even see my spider silk."
And he'd burned it all clean. The flames had traveled along the silk and reached him in an instant. If he hadn't pulled back fast enough, his whole arm would've been scorched.
The group turned to look at the person sitting in the main hall. She wore a sharp combat suit. She raised her head and narrowed her eyes.
"So powerful. They must be carrying a lot of high-grade crystal cores, right?"
Beside her sat a young, handsome youth in a gray athletic jacket and clean, loose jeans. He propped his cheek on one hand, chewing on a ham sausage, and shot his sister a look.
"Don't even think about it. The boss only said to follow them—not to rob them."
He cleared his throat, sat up straight, crossed his legs, and leaned back against the chair with a feigned air of importance. "Except for that young-looking girl, they're all high-tier Ability Users. Just follow them and don't act on your own."
After saying that, he shot his sister a glare.
"If you hadn't insisted on probing them, we could have secretly followed them. Now look—they've just left. That captain is extremely sharp; he'll definitely be on guard against us on the road."
By the time they left, there were still quite a few zombies on the highway. Cheng Zainan and Lin Xizhi opened the windows on both sides to clear them out.
He Fangchen asked, "Captain, that squad is strange. The few Ability Users who tested us earlier—all five of them had mutant-type abilities. If a squad has too many mutant-type Ability Users, what do they do during their cooldown periods?"
"And there's also the consumption of crystal cores." Yun Ying's brows knitted slightly as she said gently, "I heard before that for mutant-type Ability Users, seventy percent of their ability source has to be drawn from crystal cores. That squad needs a lot of high-grade crystal cores. If they've set their sights on us, they might also be after our crystal cores."
The five elemental forces in daily life, as well as particles like lightning, could be absorbed by Ability Users like Yu Yao. Seventy percent of their abilities came from energy extracted from the environment. Therefore, an Ability User squad could do without mutant-type abilities, but they absolutely had to have basic-type Ability Users.
Yu Yao was hooking her fingers and playing with them. Yun Ying couldn't shake off this childish pest, so she simply ignored him. Now, though, she spoke up.
The bad dog was somewhat happy. On the day Yun Ying first got in the car, she wouldn't acknowledge anyone. Today, she was even joining in discussions about squad matters.
He pinched Yun Ying's hand. Soft.
"So smart?" Yu Yao loved to tease her. Yun Ying shot him a glare, which only pleased him more. He leaned back into his seat, kneading her soft palm.
Yu Yao said to He Fangchen, "We're almost at the base. No need to stop along the way—we'll head straight back."
Yun Ying parted her lips. Lu Yao and Lin Xizhi looked at her with some embarrassment.
Cheng Zainan coughed and climbed into the passenger seat. "I-I'll shoot some zombies here and keep Old He company."
Yu Yao of course knew what Yun Ying was thinking.
"Stop overthinking. Dingcheng Base is huge—no worse than Jiangcheng Base. We're heading back to spend the winter this time. We don't plan on taking missions, so it's a good chance to teach you combat techniques."
Yu Yao tightened his grip on the hand in his palm. Yun Ying had been stubbornly trying to pull her hand free, and she had plenty of strength, but he shamelessly held on for dear life.
After Lu Yao finished dealing with the zombies, Lin Xizhi swapped in to take her place. Lu Yao turned her head and saw Yun Ying's fair face flushed red with anger. That bad dog was clutching her hand and refusing to let go no matter what. The two of them were silently locked in a battle of wills, seeing who could out-stubborn the other.
Lu Yao's expression was complicated. "Captain, have some shame. If you can't, just go shoot some zombies."
Yun Ying glared at him too, echoing Lu Yao's words. "Exactly, exactly. I see your wounds don't hurt anymore."
Just one day and he was already full of energy and bullying people. Yesterday he'd looked half-dead.
Yu Yao held her hand with one of his, let out a muffled laugh, and shamelessly closed his eyes, leaning against her shoulder.
"My head's a bit dizzy. I'll sleep for a while."
The people in the car all wanted to roll their eyes at him in unison, but they were afraid the captain would settle scores with them later, so right now everyone was busy. Lu Yao, who had just rested, turned around and went to fight zombies with Lin Xizhi.
"Yu Yao, you're going too far!"
Yun Ying couldn't push him away no matter how hard she tried, and cursed him in a lowered voice. He had her squeezed between the car wall and himself. Such a big man, resting his head on her shoulder, his soft black hair tickling her cheek, his burning hot hand gripping hers, the thin calluses on his palm rubbing against her.
"How can you be so petty? It's just borrowing a shoulder."
Yu Yao raised his hand to pull the curtain across the aisle, childish to the extreme, insisting on squeezing in beside her. A person so much taller than her resting his head on her shoulder—it wasn't a very comfortable position.
But leaning against the soft, sweet little cake, sleeping was comfortable no matter what.
The little cake sulked the whole way to the base. They set out at dawn and arrived at dusk.
Every base required quarantine screening before entering the city. As the captain, Yu Yao got off first to register their information.
"Captain Yu's back. No losses this trip, right?" The one registering information was a young guy who had seen Yu Yao several times and knew he was the strongest Ability User at Dingcheng Base.
Yu Yao filled in everyone's information from the car and replied, "No losses."
"That's good. As long as you made it back safely." The young guy let out a breath of relief, glanced down, and reminded him, "I've got all the ID numbers for your team on record here. I'll fill them in later—wait, how come there's an extra person? Is this a newly rescued survivor? If it's a survivor, they can't go in with you and your team right now."
Looking down, he saw Yu Yao had filled in six names.
"Girlfriend."
Yu Yao wrote it quickly and filled in Yun Ying's ID number. He had seen the girl's ID card—she was three years younger than him, from Hai Province.
The young guy's eyes went wide: "Girlfriend?"
His voice was a bit loud. Yu Yao glanced at him: "I can bring her home, right?"
The young guy laughed awkwardly: "If she's your girlfriend, she counts as family. She can indeed go back to the inner city with you without going through the series of checks."
Because Yu Yao was her guardian—if anything went wrong with Yun Ying, Yu Yao would be punished alongside her.
After Yu Yao finished registering the information, several people came out of the tent on the left, carrying instruments to inspect and disinfect their vehicle, so everyone in the car needed to get out.
When Yun Ying stepped down, the people in the tent all looked over in unison. These people, who had been checking at the entrance of Dingcheng Base year-round, often saw Yu Yao's team going out on missions—many high-risk missions were completed by them.
A team with several powerful Ability Users, and one of the strongest Ability Users currently existing in human bases. There were only three Seventh-rank Ability Users, and Yu Yao was one of them.
Such a powerful person—there were far too many people in the base who wanted to latch onto him. Some, in order to win him over, sent money, crystal cores, and women. Yu Yao turned them all away.
As they looked over, Yun Ying was wearing a light blue woolen coat, loose light-colored jeans, her long hair tied up in a high ponytail. Fair-skinned, with a delicate and cute appearance.
A person stood in front of the girl, blocking those people's gazes. Yu Yao wrapped one arm around her and pulled her into his embrace, his palm pressing against the back of her head, burying the girl's head in his chest.
"Go rest for a bit. We'll be able to go in soon." Yu Yao half-forcefully led the blind Yun Ying to the tent, with Lu Yao and the others following closely behind.
The people outside checked quickly. After the vehicles were disinfected, Yu Yao and the others drove in again. Yun Ying sat by the window, looking at Dingcheng Base.
Among the major bases, Dingcheng Base could be considered among the top three. Because it was surrounded by mountains on three sides with only one path leading in, it was a natural defensive fortress, and therefore rock-solid.
Yun Ying saw many tall buildings. Although Dingcheng Base was also divided into an inner and outer city, the outer city's public order was clearly much better than Jiangcheng's. There were no tents or people sleeping on the streets everywhere, nor was there a heavy stench or garbage all over the ground.
Although the survivors could not be said to be full of energy, they were at least not sallow and emaciated.
The RV drove toward the inner city district and stopped in front of a residential building. The RV drove into the underground garage below. Yu Yao grabbed the unwilling Yun Ying, and the group walked toward the elevator.
When they reached the thirteenth floor, He Fangchen and Cheng Zainan left first. Then on the fifteenth floor, Lin Xizhi and Lu Yao said a brief goodbye and got out. Yun Ying subconsciously moved to follow, but Yu Yao pulled her back.
"What are you doing!" Yun Ying glared at him in dissatisfaction.
With one hand pushing the suitcase, Yu Yao pressed the button for the sixteenth floor.
"You're staying with me."
The moment the elevator opened, Yun Ying darted out like a rabbit. Her eyes were very sharp as she found the emergency stairway and was about to run down. Without even blinking, Yu Yao raised a hand and grabbed the hood of her jacket, pulling her back and tucking her under his arm. With one hand he pushed the suitcase, and with the other he held the Yun Ying who was trying to run away.
"Yu Yao! Let go of me!"
This was a residential complex from before the apocalypse, with two households per elevator landing. Yu Yao took out his keys and opened the door, pushing Yun Ying inside, then followed in himself.
Yun Ying was blocked by him in the entryway. His tall body was wedged there, and she could not get out at all.
"I can just live with Sister Lin and Sister Lu. Why do I have to live with you?"
"Two bedrooms and one living room. I have an empty room here. Why do you have to go squeeze onto their couch?"
Yu Yao opened the shoe cabinet and took out a pair of slippers, placing them in front of Yun Ying. "I'm the only one in this apartment. Just make do for now. If there's anything missing, we'll go buy it in a bit."
Yun Ying argued stubbornly with him. "I can sleep in the living room!"
Yu Yao let it go in one ear and out the other. With a calm expression, he took off his shoes. "Winter is almost here. It's the apocalypse, so there's no heating. It'll be better if you live with me."
After all, he was a fire-elemental superpower user, so Yu Yao's room would indeed be much warmer.
But living in the same room as this bastard—Yun Ying would rather go squeeze in with Lin Xizhi and the others.
She found her chance and slipped out from under Yu Yao's arm, turning to run outside. A hand wrapped around her waist. Yu Yao hoisted her up onto his shoulder, casually took off the shoes on her feet, picked up his own slippers, and stepped onto the floor wearing only socks.
"Bastard! Pervert!"
Yun Ying was placed into the sofa. Just as she was about to get up, she was pressed back down. Yu Yao knelt on one knee in front of her and put the far-too-large slippers onto her feet.
He held down Yun Ying's arm and looked up at her. "Unfortunately, I really am not some gentleman. Right now I don't know how long I can hold back, but I also don't plan to force myself on a girl right from the start. If it can be mutual, who would be happy to resort to forcing someone?"
Only when there was no other option would he take the lowest route.
"Who would believe you!"
His slippers were too big. Yun Ying wore them loosely, and they slipped off with the slightest movement. She lifted her foot to kick him, her white-socked foot pressing against his knee. The muscles beneath his cargo pants were taut and hard—she kicked with all her might but couldn't budge him.
"If you end up hurting yourself kicking me, baby, I'd be heartbroken."
Yu Yao teased, grasping her ankle and circling it with his fingers. One touch was enough to tell how thin she was. That useless ex-husband of hers couldn't even keep her fed, and all he did was drag her down.
This man wouldn't yield to either soft or hard tactics, leaving Yun Ying with a belly full of anger and nowhere to vent it.
Yu Yao looked up at her flushed face—this wasn't from embarrassment, purely from being infuriated by his smooth, shameless string of antics.
So easy to get angry. She looked all soft and pliant, but she had quite the temper.
But God, she was gorgeous.
He stood up and couldn't resist leaning in to plant two quick kisses on her cheek. By the time Yun Ying reacted, Yu Yao had already finished, rubbing his high-bridged nose against the tip of hers like a little puppy seeking affection.
"So sweet. Who are you trying to kill with all this cuteness, baby?"
"Get lost!"
Yu Yao obediently let her kick him, only leaving after she was done. He washed his hands and headed into the master bedroom.
Yun Ying turned over and went to open the door, grabbing the handle and twisting it several times without success. She heard a voice drift from the master bedroom.
"It's locked. The key's with me."
Hearing the commotion in the living room, that someone had gotten worked up again, the smile at the corners of Yu Yao's lips couldn't be contained. The whole house felt brighter for it.
He didn't have many belongings. He swapped out all the bedding on the bed for fresh linens, gathered up his clothes from the wardrobe, and carried an armful of them to the secondary bedroom next door.
Yun Ying followed behind him in his slippers. Seeing him set up the secondary bedroom, his clothes filling the wardrobe, she fumed: "You won't even leave me one wardrobe, and you insist I stay here?"
Yu Yao glanced up at her. "You're staying here?"
Yun Ying was nearly in tears from frustration. "Then where are you telling me to stay? You're the one who insisted I live here!"
Yu Yao nodded. "If you want to stay here, I'd be more than happy."
He bent down to make the bed. Yun Ying looked at the gray bedding set on the bed, then at the men's clothes in the wardrobe, and slowly it dawned on her.
She looked at Yu Yao. His lips, with their beautiful curve, were curving upward, unable to hide his amusement at all.
Yun Ying asked in a low voice, "I—I'm staying in the master bedroom?"
Yu Yao said, "What else? Are you planning to share the secondary bedroom with me?"
Yun Ying was flustered. "Isn't that your room? I—I'll just take the secondary bedroom."
"The master bedroom has a bay window. You'll like it." Seeing Yun Ying still standing there dazed, Yu Yao couldn't help but lean down and kiss her once more, only to earn a resounding slap from his darling.
"Yu Yao!"
His cheek tingled numbly. Yu Yao's throat felt dry and parched. He dropped the duvet cover he'd been halfway through sliding on, grabbed the retreating Yun Ying, and pinned her against the wall with one hand on her shoulder.
He looked down at her frightened eyes, tilted his head, and seemed almost bewildered.
"How strange. Even when you curse at me, it sounds beautiful. When you hit me, I don't get angry. Kissing you feels better than floating to heaven. If you ever let me have you once, I wonder if I'd just die in that bed. I'd give you anything you want."
"Miss Yun, I'm genuinely baffled. Did you cast gu magic on me? Someone like me… falling in love at first sight?"
Yun Ying's hands, which had been pushing against him, suddenly paused.
Her pupils trembled. In Yu Yao's eyes, she clearly saw that familiar desire. Yu Yao was a thick-skinned man—in every past encounter, he insisted on the lights on. When he kissed, he had to look at her. When he took her, he had to watch her without blinking.
He wanted to hear her call his name, watch her skin flush pink with passion. That gaze made Yun Ying feel shy and even angrier—angry that Yu Yao was always so domineering.
He had brought the little rabbit back to his dwelling—a room saturated with his scent, where no outsiders could intrude. This possessiveness ignited the emotions Yu Yao had been suppressing the entire way—that indescribable, burning urge to claim, scorching his sanity.
The moment he saw Yun Ying amidst the Zombie Horde, Yu Yao's heart pounded wildly like a reckless young man's.
He raised his hand to grip her chin, rubbing his thumb across it. The girl frowned and turned her head away, pressing her arms against his chest to push him off.
"Yu Yao, Yu Yao, I can't breathe."
That plea should have worked best on him—the old Yu Yao had always fallen for it. When she softened her voice and said she hurt somewhere, he would ease up even at the final moment, holding her and moving slowly, giving her a few minutes to adjust.
But this time, Yu Yao didn't budge. He stared at her pale, luminous earlobe, where a tiny mole sat.
Yu Yao had noticed it long ago—even a single mole could hook him for the entire journey.
Seeing that he still wouldn't move, Yun Ying frowned and shoved him harder, but the man before her leaned in against her resistance, and then her earlobe grew damp as he gave it a light lick.
"Baby, why don't you take pity on me and find yourself a new boyfriend?"